Tank pla



Patented m. m, I899.

v C. H. HANSEN.

TANK P LANER AND SCRAPEH. (A pplicatian filed Sept. 1, 1897.)

2 Sheeis$heetil.

N0.- 6l7,336.- Paiented fian. m, 1899.

c. H. HANSEN.

TANK PLANER AND SCRAPEB.

(Application filed. Sept. 1, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No hipde l.)

rrrrisri S'rnr'ns ldnrsrrr rricn.

CHARLES n. HANSEN,- or 'iftAC-Ilni, Wisconsin;

TANK PLATNEW'AND' WAFER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,386, dated J anuery10, 1899. Application filed September l, 1897. Serial No. 650,253. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. llnxsnx, a

citizen o'i the United States, and a resident of Racine, in the countyof Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in 'lanl; Planers and Scrapers; and Idohereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates especially to devices for planing or scraping theinterior surfaces of tanks and vats used in breweries and distilleries;and it consists in certain peculiariticsof construction and combinationof parts, as will he fully set forth hereinafter and subscqnen tlyclaimed.

In the drawings, Fi ure 1 is a central vertical sectional view ot s tankwith my device epplied thereto in operative position and shown partiallybroken away to better illustrate certain details of construction. Fig. 2is a rear elevation of the simplest form of my device with the supportsfor the flexible shaft shown in section. Fig. 3 is a detail sectionalview taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig at is a detail sectional Viewtaken on the line 4 4: of Fig, 5. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional viewtaken on the line 5 5 of Fig. l.

. In breweries, distilleries, vinegar-factories, 1

and other similar establishments it is customary to employ tanks or vatsto contain the liquid product, and these tanks or vat-s are coated ontheir inner surfaces with varnish, shellac, or other substance, andafter the lapse of time it becomesnecessary to recoet said sun faces,preliminary to which the old coating is thoroughly scraped off, andtoefiieet this rcmoral of the old coating is one of the principal uses ofmy present invention, although it is also partic ulsrly adapted forsmoothing the interior surfaces of such tanks or vats before any coatingis applied thereto, and hence its so is not limited to the renovation ofold 1 t nks and vets nor to the treatment of the spe-' oillc vesselsreferred to hercinabovc, although I have illustrated my invention asapplied thereto.

Referring to the drawings, A. represents at circular tank or vat whoseinner-surface is to be rendered clean and smooth by abrasion.

B is the upper section, and C the lower section. of elsdder, wh iehmayconsist of as man y sections as the height of the tank or vatrcquircs, as hereinafter explained. In Fig. 1 I show this la-ddcrprovided with one intermediate section 1 between the upper and lowersections already named, while in Fig. 2 I show the simplest form of saidluddcr, com prising only the said two sections it and U. The uppersection 13 consists of two parallel side pieces bl), united by rounds a.u, and with the upper ends of said side pieces preferably rounded overoutwardly and thence continued horizontally and finally brought downverticztlly, as shown at b a (Z in Fig. l. FI'OIII lugs ggg on thepractically horizontal outer end portions c of the ladder side piecesb'therc depend the swivclcd shanks c of verticallydisposed grooved orflanged rollers f, whose grooves o flangcs take in the upper top of thetank or vat, as shown in Figs. 1 and E3, the swiveled attachment of thesaid rollers permitting them to turn freely. to correspond to the curvedpsth they have to travel around the tank-top. The lower section 0 of theladder is formed with parallel side pieces h 72 united by rounds orrungs i i, the upper ends of said side pieces being olisct inward andcontracted toward each other and thence continued vcrticallyupwerd, asshown at jj ,these upper portions of said side pieces being formed withhooks 7.; It, projecting outwardly therefrom to engage witli the twolower-rounds of the ladder-section above. The lower ends of the sidepieces h 7b of the IOWQIdFtddGFSQClilOn are outwardly rounded and attheir extreme ends are provided with lugs'm m, whcrcinerc swiveled theshanks n of horizontally-disposed rollers ojndaptcd to bear against theinuersurface of the tank, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The intermediateladder-sections D are formed with straight parallel side pieces 1),united by rounds'or rungs q, as shown in Fig. l, and said side piecesare offset inwardly and contracted and thence continued verticallyupward, as shown at i, andthosc upper ends are formed with hooks It 7.:for engagement with the two lower rounds of the laddersectionimmedietely above, exactly as in tho-case of the upper ends of the lowerladder-section 0, already described. liroru the upper round a. of theupper ladder-section ll there is sus pended a pulley E, around whichpasses a rope 1*, one end of which is secured to an eye r on theabrading-tool G, said rope being secured to a lug or eye on the upperladdersection B.

The abrading-tool G is shown in detail in .the several views Figs. 3, t,and 5 and cornprises a vertical back plate t, having upper and lowerhorizontal flanges a r, the upper flange 1: being extended back beyondthe back plate, as shown at u, thence upwardly, as shown at .r, andthence forwardly, as shown at y, this upper part, comprising the flangeu and its extensions w :r 1 forming a case to receive the gear-wheels za I), while the abrading-tools are received in a case formed by the backplate t and its flanges u 11. These tools in the preferred formillustrated in the drawings consist of a planer-head II, provided withsuitable knives, and an abrading-cylinder I, covered with sandpaper, thesaid tools beingrigidly secured to thevertically-disposed journals 0 d,and the gearwheels a 7i being of equal size and keyed to the saidjournals e (1, respectively, While the gear-wheel r: is of much greaterdiameter and is in mesh with both of the other gear-wheels, as bestshown in Fig. 5. This wheel .2 is keyed to a short journal e, mounted inthe parts 20 1/ of the described case, the said journal c" below thepart 1/: having rigidly secured thereto a socketf, within which issecured, as by set-screw 1 one end of a flexible shaft J, so that whenthe gear-wheel z is revolved by said flexible shaft, as hereinafterdescribed, the gear-wheels a b will both be simultaneously revolved andeach in the same direction. The back plate 6 is fitted with suitablehandles 71/ 71,, so that the operator can hold the abrading-tool Gsteadily against the surface to be planed or abraded, as shown in Fig.1, and to regulate the depth or thickness of the surface to be removedthe said tool is provided with a series of rollers K K K, verticallymounted on adjustable frames t" i a", the opposite ends of said framesconsisting of a series of rods projecting through openings in the backplate f of the tool-casing and the projection of said rollers withrespect to the tools it I being regulated by the adjustingnutsj 7.1 onthe screw-threaded ends of said rods.

The flexible shaft .1 is of the ordinary wellknown construction, and itsouter end is at tached to any suitable motor (not shown) for furnishingthe required power to revolve the planing or abrad ing tools. Itisdesirable that this shaft should besosupported as tobe free fromentanglement with the tank or ladderas the latter is revolved around thetanlr,ashereinafter explained, and, further, so that said sl1al't.lshould enter the tank at the vertical central line of said tank. To thatend 1 provide the curved open-topped trough l1, pivotally secured to theupper end of the ltd-- justable rod M, which latter telescopes within,the upright tubular-part N or tripod, said part N being provided with aparallel of a suitable stand set-screw m for holding the rod M fast whenproperly adjusted. The other end of the trough L is secured to the freeend of a sliding bar 0, adj ustably secured to a bar P, projecting fromthe upper ladder-section B, to which it may be secured by rods andbraces q '2", and the adjustment of the bars 0 1 maybe eil'ected bymeans of a slot 0 in one bar and clampscrews 1) 1) passing through saidslot and through holes in the other bar, so that the support 0 P may beextended or reduced in length as may be found necessary in order thatthe free end of the part 0 may come over the vertical center of the tankand be held in that position. The inner end of the described open troughL terminates in a ring or collar or, which is fitted and seen red to thefree end of the rod 0, and the flexible shaft J after traversing thelength of the curved open trough L is passed through this ring or collarn, and thence down into the tank at the described vertical centrallinethereof, and then up to the suspended tooLG and secured within thedescribed socketf by setscrew 9 as shown in Fig. l.

The operation of myinvention willbe read- 7 ily understood from theforegoing description of the construction of my devices, taken-inconnection with the accompanying drawings. Let it be understood, forexample, that acircular tank or vat A is to have its inner sur facethoroughly planed or scraped, so as to remove the old shellac orvarnished coating, and thus prepare it for a new cost. l irstthe frames2" t" i on the tool G are adjusted so that the cylinder I and planer IIshall project only the required distance beyond the line of the rollersK K K to insure the requisite depth of the cut or abrasion. Then thesectional ladder is supported on and within the tank, as many of theintermediate scctions D being employed as is necessary to bring thelower section C dling distance'of the ladder operator. (Shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1 as standing on the bottom of the tank.) The tool G isnow suspendedby the rope F and pulley E from the upper section B of theladder at the proper height for beginning the work, which would be closeto the top of the tank. The tool operator now climbs up the ladder andstand i ng thereon grasps the tool G by the handles it h and presses theabrading devices II I firmly against the inner surface of the tank, andthen, power being applied from the motor to the flexible shaft .l, theladder operator starts on his annular travel around the tank, pushingthe ladder in front of him till he has completed a circle. Then the toolG is lowered to the position required to out the new circle, and therope F again made fast, and the operation first described is repeated,and so on until the tank-wall has been entirely planed and sandpapcrcd.

lit is obvious that under some oircu instances the tools for cutting orabrading may be mod laccording to the nature oi" the work to be withineasy handone or the surface to be operated upon, as sometimes onlyplaning or'sandpapering may be necessary, and in place of asandpapercylinder sometimes a circular stifi-wire brush may be used, andtherefore I do not limit myself to the precise construction of theabrading-tool shown and-described, although in travel on the top edge ofa tank, a planing or abrading tool adj ustably suspended from saidladder, and a flexible shaft revolubly connected to said tool,substantially as set forth.

2. Ina device for planing or scraping the interior of tanksor vats, thecombination with a suspension-ladder provided with an upper set ofrollers adapted to engage with and travel on the top edge of a tank anda lower set of rollers adapted to engage with and travel on the innersurface of said tank, a planing or abrading tool adj ustably suspendedfrom said ladder, an extensible supporting-bar projecting from saidladder toward the center of nta. supporting-stand, a curved troughextending from said stand-to said bar, and a flexible shaft supported insaid trough and revolubly connected to said tool, substantially assetforth.

3. In a device for planing or scraping the interior of tanks orvats, thecombination with a sectional suspension-ladder provided with rollersadapted to travel on the top edge of a tank, of a planing or abradingtool adj ustably suspended from said ladder, substantially as set forth.

4. In a device for planing or scraping the interior of tanks or vats,the combination with 'an upper ladder-section consisting of parallelside pieces curved outwardly at their upper ends .and united by roundsof rungs, verti- -cally-dis'posed flanged or grooved rollers havanex eior.(et i l hu b ing' shanks swiveled to said section forengagement withthe tank-top, one or more lower pieces inwardly ofis'et and contractedat their upper ends, and provided with hooks for engagement with therounds of the section having its side pieces" outwardly rounded athaying shanks swiveled to said section for engagenient with theinner-surface of the tank, and a planing or abrading tool adjustablystantially as set forth.

interior of tanks or vats, the combination with a suitable case of ajournal vertically mou nted therein, a gear-wheel on the end of saidjournal, a'tool having a cutting or abr'ading surface rigidly secured tosaid journal, movable frames oneach side of said tool, carrying verticalrollers at one end and adjusting devices at the other end, anothergear-wheel journaied wheel on the tool-journal and'a revoluble flexibleshaftsecured to the journal of said other gear-wheel, substantially. asset forth.

6. ha device for planing or scraping the interiorof tanks or vats, thecombination with mounted therein, gear-wheels on the ends of otherjournal, movable frames adjacent to said tools, carrying verticalrollers at one end and adjusting devices at the other end, anothergear-wheel journaled in said case in engage-' wheels, and a revolubleflexible shaft secured to the journal or. said other gear-wheel,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I cousin, in the presence oftwo'witnesses.

GHARLES H. HANSEN.-

Witnesses:

H. G. Unnnnwoon,

B. O. ROLOFF.

ment with both of the firstrnamed gear-- ladderzsections.having-similarly-united side their lower ends, horizontally-disposedrollers suspended from said sectional ladder, sub- I 5. In a device forplaning or scraping the in said case in engagement with the gearasuitable case of a pair of journals vertically. I

80 antiquarian; aplaner-head on one of said journals and anabrading-cylinder on the have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in.the county of Milwaukee and State ofWis- 5s above, and the lowestsection of the. ladder j

